Reactivity-initiated accident simulation to inform transient testing of candidate advanced cladding
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831(United States)
This paper leverages three-dimensional reactor-core-simulation capabilities to provide information on appropriate experimental test conditions for candidate advanced cladding materials in a control-rod-ejection event. These test conditions use three-dimensional nodal kinetics simulations of a reactivity-initiated accident (RIA) in a representative state-of-the-art pressurized water reactor with both nuclear-grade iron-chromium-aluminum (FeCrAl) and silicon-carbide (SiC-SiC)-based cladding materials. The effort yields boundary conditions for experimental mechanical tests, specifically peak cladding strain during the power pulse following the rod ejection. The impact of candidate cladding materials on the reactor kinetics behavior of RIA progression versus that of reference Zr cladding is predominantly due to differences in -1) fuel mass/volume/specific power density, -2) spectral effects due to parasitic neutron absorption, -3) control rod worth due to hardened (or softened) spectrum, and -4) initial conditions due to power peaking and neutron transport cross sections in the equilibrium cycle cores resulting from hardened (or softened) spectrum. This study shows minimal impact of SiC-SiC-based cladding configurations on the transient response versus reference Zircaloy cladding. However, the FeCrAl cladding response indicates similar energy deposition, but with significantly shorter pulses of higher magnitude. Therefore, the FeCrAl-based cases have a more rapid fuel thermal expansion rate, and the resultant pellet-cladding interaction occurs more rapidly. (authors)
- Research Organization:
- American Nuclear Society - ANS, 555 North Kensington Avenue, La Grange Park, IL 60526 (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 22750113
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
The potential impact of enhanced accident tolerant cladding materials on reactivity initiated accidents in light water reactors
BISON Fuel Performance Analysis of FeCrAl cladding with updated properties
Related Subjects
ALUMINIUM
CHROMIUM
CLADDING
CONTROL ELEMENTS
CONTROL ROD WORTHS
ENERGY LOSSES
NEUTRON TRANSPORT
PWR TYPE REACTORS
REACTIVITY-INITIATED ACCIDENTS
REACTOR ACCIDENT SIMULATION
REACTOR CORES
REACTOR KINETICS
SILICON CARBIDES
THERMAL EXPANSION
THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
TRANSIENTS
ZIRCALOY